The Family Life of an Interstellar Explorer
by DramaLexy
Summary: Sequel to my fic 'Forever After the Day.' After seven years on Abydos, the Jackson family returns to their other home.
1. Prologue

TITLE: The Family Life of an Interstellar Explorer

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: Sequel to "Forever after the Day." After seven years on Abydos, the Jackson family returns to their other home. Daniel/Sha're

DISCLAIMER: Catherine and Jonathon Jackson are mine. Other than that...I no own, you no sue.

DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just let me know where first.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I basically took Season 7 and made it happen a few years later (about the time that Season 11 should have aired if it had existed. grumble, grumble...) I tried to incorporate some suggestions that I got in reviews for my first story into this fic. As always, feedback is very much appreciated.

* * *

Sha're Jackson stood in the doorway to the home she shared with her husband and watched as her seven-year-old daughter and three-year-old son played together outside. Jonathan had zero chance of keeping up with his sister on his little legs, but was determined to try anyway. He was barefoot in the warm sand, struggling not to trip over his own two feet or the bottom of his little robe. Catherine kindly helped pull her brother back to his feet when he fell over, then began to run around again, her long, curly brown hair flying in the light breeze as she played with a hoop-and-stick toy that her grandfather had made for her.

"You know that they'll be better off," her husband quietly said as he came up behind her. "There's only so much that I can teach them."

"They don't know any other way of life than here," she softly replied.

"They'll learn. You did." Sha're didn't answer. "If it was just about us, you know that we'd stay. But…they deserve to be able to choose their own lives when they get older."

Jonathan squawked as he once again ended up sitting in the sand, and Catherine giggled as she plopped down beside him. "You're so silly, JJ," she told her little brother, reaching to tickle him, and Sha're smiled as her son's laughter rang out. They were happy here, unaware that their lives were about to change forever. She hoped that leaving the world they'd been born on – where the family had lived for the past seven years – wouldn't be as traumatic as she feared.

"Who do you want the job of telling?" Sha're asked her husband. "Them, or my father?"

* * *

TBC...


	2. Children of Two Worlds

Catherine wasn't happy about the news.

As Daniel sat with his silently fuming daughter, he had to briefly wonder whether or not he'd actually taken the easier option. "You're going to get to see all our friends on Earth all the time," he tried to point out to her.

"I won't get to see Grandfather. Or Meti." Daniel knew he wasn't going to win that one. Meti was Catherine's baby cousin; the two of them loved each other dearly.

"We'll come back to visit, Catie," he told her. "On Earth, there's no school in the summertime; we can come back then."

"Do you promise?"

"I do. I know you're going to miss life here, sweetheart, but you're going to like Earth."

"How long do I have to go to school?" she asked.

Daniel decided that it would probably be a bad idea to point out that high school graduation was eleven years away, and college another four beyond that. "For a few years," he simply said. "There are lots of different things for you to learn about."

"After I'm done, can we come back here?"

"Well, your brother has to finish, too. But yes, if you want to move back to Abydos after you graduate, you can. I promise."

Catherine sighed. "Can I go outside?"

"All right, but don't forget your chores before dinner."

"Do people on Earth have chores?" she asked hopefully as she headed out of the tent.

"Nice try," Daniel called after her. "Yes, they do." He then looked down at his son, who was sitting on his lap. "You've been dangerously quiet through all this," he pointed out to the three-year-old, who just grinned.

* * *

Sha're wasn't in a good mood by the time she got home. She had three very stubborn men in her life and spending the afternoon fighting with two of them hadn't been pleasant. Daniel took his cue to tread lightly around her; he got dinner together for the kids and got them both to bed without having to be asked. Only then did he try to approach his wife.

"I take it that didn't go well?" he asked as he joined her at the campfire outside their tent.

"No…Somehow, when we married, I never believed that we would be caught between two worlds like this."

Daniel sighed. "I'm sorry…I just want to do what's best for them."

"I know. And Father knows as well…But that doesn't make it easier for him to take."

"And Skaara?"

Sha're smiled slightly. "He has always been Father's son."

"I already promised Catherine that we'd come back. Every summer, maybe?"

"Mmm. How did she take it?"

Daniel grinned. "She's always been your Father's granddaughter."

* * *

The following day, Sha're was on her way home from working with the other women when she noticed her daughter's small figure huddled by one of the fires. "Catherine?" she asked, kneeling beside her, and was surprised to see the little girl's face was streaked with tears. Sand was all in her hair, in her clothes, and on her skin. "What happened, sweetheart?"

Catherine tried in vain to wipe her face and turned away from her mother. "Nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing."

The little girl sniffled before finally responding. "He called me a kresh'taa," she whimpered.

Sha're frowned. "Who?"

"Yesha." One of her closest friends. "He said I don't belong here anymore because I think the Tau'ri are better. But it's not true! I'm Tau'ri, but I'm Abydonian, too. I like being both!"

Sha're pulled her daughter into her arms. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"He pushed me down and kicked sand on me. Said I was a traitor."

"Yesha doesn't know what he's talking about. He will probably miss you very much and doesn't know how to deal with it. But that doesn't give him the right to do what he did."

"When are we leaving?" Catherine quietly asked after a long moment of silence. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"It will be a couple days still." That brought fresh tears to the little girl's eyes. Sha're picked her daughter up to carry her home.

* * *

Catherine refused to eat when they got back to their tent, and so silently sat and stared at the sand while her family had dinner.

"You want me to talk some sense into the kid?" Daniel asked his wife.

She smiled. "I don't think that would help…or be safe for Yesha."

Daniel sighed as he watched his daughter; she had had him around her little finger since the day she was born – something she'd inherited from her mother. "She's devastated, Sha're."

"I know. But hopefully once we get to Earth, she'll be busy enough to forget."

"Mmm."

"Mama?" Jonathan spoke up.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"We going away on a trip?"

"Remember I told you we were going to Earth?" Daniel asked him.

The little boy nodded. "We see Uncle Jack?"

That got a smile. "Yeah, buddy. He's gonna love having you around to be a bad influence on."

They were cleaning everything up when three of the children from their area of the settlement approached. "Kel sha," one of them, a boy named Nuri, greeted the family.

"Kel sha," Sha're replied. "Do your parents know where you are?"

He nodded before turning to Catherine. "We heard what Yesha did."

"Gyasi hit him in the face," Ati, the only girl in the group, told her, indicating the third child.

He shrugged shyly. "Yesha's a slow runner."

"You're not mad that I'm leaving, too?" Catherine asked, surprised.

They all shook their heads. "No. And Yesha should not be either," Nuri told her. "It's not your fault. He's a ha'shak." Catherine giggled.

"We'll miss you, Catie," Ati added.

She smiled. "I'll be back to visit. And I can tell you all about Earth, and everything I learn. Then it'll be like you went to school, too."

The four quickly scampered off to play, with Jonathan toddling behind them. "Everything's going to be okay," Daniel told his wife as he wrapped his arms around her.

Sha're smiled. "When you say it, I believe it."

* * *

Catherine had been through the Stargate exactly six times in her life, each time traveling to Earth for about a week. As she looked up at the large, swimming event horizon of the wormhole, she wondered if this time it would feel different.

She watched as her grandfather gave her mother a final hug. "I am honored that you are mine," Kasuf told his daughter.

Sha're smiled. "As I am honored you are my father."

Kasuf then turned to Daniel. "Take care of them, my good son."

"I give you my word."

Skaara and Sha're said goodbye as well, and Catherine took her mother's hand as she joined her on the landing before the Stargate. They'd packed as much of their belongings as they could, but knew they would need all kinds of new things once they got to Earth.

"Ready?" Daniel asked them, holding Jonathan. Catherine looked back, one last time, to wave at her grandfather.

"Let's go," Sha're answered her husband. Catherine followed them forward, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes before stepping into the gate –

And a split second later, she was light-years away from the only home she'd ever known. The SGC was full of activity, as usual. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c were waiting for them at the end of the platform. "Uncle Jack!" Jonathan exclaimed, and Daniel handed his son over to his friend.

"Hey, squirt. How're you doing?"

"We took a trip," the little boy informed him.

Jack laughed. "Yeah, you did." He nodded a hello to Daniel. "Welcome back."

He smiled. "Good to be back."

* * *

TBC...


	3. School Days

There were lots of things that the family had to adjust to on Earth, but at least they had help. By the time they stepped through the Stargate, they already had a house and most of the necessary furniture. Identities had to be created for all of them, with stories on why exactly they'd fallen off the face of the Earth for the past seven years. Sha're found it somewhat amusing that there was actually a city in Egypt called Abydos – that, of course, became her hometown. To the rest of the world, the family had been living in seclusion while Daniel continued his work in archeology.

Getting back into the swing of things at the SGC took a bit of time, and Catherine had about a week to prepare before the school year started. Jack and Daniel got some 'guy time' alone with Jonathan while Sam took Sha're and Catherine out school shopping.

"This is the list Dan'iel got from her school," Sha're told her friend, handing her a sheet of paper as they walked into the local mall. Sam scanned it.

"Okay, most of this stuff is pretty easy to get in one trip to Staples or Office Depot," she decided. "I think the bigger worry for today is clothes – she's going to need play clothes and dress clothes, shoes for both, pajamas, and stuff for outside."

"You don't wear normal clothes outside?" Catherine asked, confused.

Sam smiled. "Not in January in Colorado, you don't."

Someone had made sure that everyone in the family had a couple days worth of Earth clothes when they arrived, but they all needed a lot more. Daniel had gotten some of his stuff put in storage before they left, so he was taken care of, but Sha're needed to get things for herself and Jonathan as well as Catherine.

"What do you think of this, Mama?" Catherine asked, holding up a pair of sparkly denim shorts.

"You can't wear those in the winter, Catie."

"Has she really never been here in the wintertime?" Sam asked.

Sha're shook her head. "I have not either. When we lived here, it was late summer and fall."

"What's winter like?" Catherine asked.

"Cold," Sha're replied. "You remember your father showed you how to get ice from the freezer yesterday?"

She nodded with a giggle. "If you leave your hand on it too long, it hurts."

"The same thing will happen to your whole body if you attempt to wear those outside in the winter." The little girl's eyes widened and she quickly put the shorts back.

"How about this, for you?" Sam asked Sha're as she saw a nice shirt.

"That's pretty," Catherine agreed. "Can I wear these?" she asked her mother, holding up a similarly decorated pair of blue jeans.

"Yes," Sha're told her.

Catherine grinned. "I NEVER got to wear pants on Abydos," she told Sam.

"IN Abydos," she corrected the child. "Remember?"

"Sorry."

"I still do not think that I will become accustomed to wearing them," Sha're commented as she put the clothes into their cart.

"I'd think pants would be more practical for chasing around after two kids," Sam told her. Sha're shrugged. "See, I've got to wear certain clothes almost every day of the week. So on the weekends…I want to get a little more creative."

"In Abydos, it was more important how well your clothes functioned than how they looked."

Sam smiled. "True. But you're here now, and if we're going to be maxing out Daniel's credit card today, you should at least get a couple things that'll surprise him."

* * *

Jack was trying to introduce Jonathan to the sport of football – with Daniel also half-heartedly participating – when the front door to the Jackson house opened. "How much money did you spend?" Daniel inquired.

"Don't ask," Sam replied. "Catie wants to surprise you with her favorite outfit, so…ooh and ahh a lot, okay?" She then turned back toward the front door to tell the little girl to come in. Dressed in the sparkly jeans she'd picked out and a short sleeve shirt, Catherine came in with her brand new backpack on. She dissolved into giggles when Jack whistled.

"You look absolutely beautiful, sweetheart," Daniel told her as he gave her a hug. "Did you get all the things on your list?"

She nodded, opening up her backpack so he could see. "Sam found everything."

"Thanks," he told his teammate. "Um, what did you do with my wife?"

"Oh! I should go help her with the bags. I'll be back."

Catherine got down on the floor to show her brother her school supplies; she especially loved the markers, or 'magic sticks like pens except they write in color.' Daniel was so engrossed watching them that he didn't even notice when Sam and Sha're came in. At least not until his wife ended up standing directly in front of him. And then he was speechless.

"You were right," Sha're told Sam.

She laughed. "You doubted me?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you in jeans," Daniel finally managed to get out.

"No, you have not," Sha're replied.

"Nice choice, Sam," he called to his friend. She laughed and drew an invisible score mark in the air with her finger.

* * *

Catherine liked school, more or less. She still had some catching up to do when it came to the basics of life in the United States, but she was learning. Even though she'd never been to a formal school before, she was pretty well prepared for second grade, and liked her friends and teachers.

Unlike the first time that they'd lived on Earth, Sha're now had something to keep her busy at home when Daniel was working – taking care of Jonathan. The little boy was a pure ball of energy, on the move all day every day with stops for naps few and far between. That had been fine on Abydos, with lots of space to move around and many pairs of eyes helping to watch out for everyone's children, but it was a lot harder on Earth.

"Some days, I look back and wonder how I survived with just Cassie," Janet told her friend when they took a Saturday afternoon trip to the park. Daniel was off-world for a couple days somewhere – all of the codes blended together in Sha're's mind – and keeping the kids cooped up inside would have been a bad idea. "You are a supermom; you make it look easy."

Sha're smiled. "I wish I had more time in a day to get things done. Jonathan is…a handful, I think you say, to take to a store. Catherine is often exhausted by the end of the school day and very easily irritable. And when Dan'iel is gone on longer missions…It is definitely not easy."

"Well, I could maybe get you a couple hours a week," Janet offered. "I was talking with Cassie the other day; she's got some psychology class where she's supposed to be observing children. What if she babysits the kids one or two afternoons a week so you can get a little adult-time?"

"I could not ask – "

"You're not asking, she's offering."

Sha're smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

TBC...


	4. Missing

Having Cassie help out was very beneficial. Sometimes when she came, Sha're didn't even leave the house, but having someone else to watch out for Jonathan and Catherine meant that she could get the laundry and some cleaning done in peace. The college junior was majoring in psychology and was especially interested in children, so the arrangement worked for everyone.

"I'll see you Friday," Cassie told Sha're as she let herself out one afternoon in October.

"Thanks, Cassie."

"No problem."

She started getting things together for dinner, but looked up when Catherine came into the kitchen. "Are you feeling better?" she asked her daughter. The little girl had been extremely crabby when she came home from school, so she'd gotten sent to her room for a short nap.

"Yeah…I did my homework."

Sha're was surprised by that; rarely did Catherine finish her assignments without prodding. "Thank you, sweetheart. Your father will check over it when he gets home, all right?"

"Okay. Hey, JJ, what are you doing?" she asked her little brother as she joined him in the living room. He was poking at one of the decorations on the coffee table, an abstractly shaped block of clear material with a small Earth encased inside.

"We here," the little boy told his sister. Catherine knelt beside him.

"Yeah, we are. That's Earth."

"Earth is home?" he asked.

"We have two homes. But we're gonna live here for now."

He thought about that for a moment. "No go back?"

Sha're had been listening to them and at that point left dinner on a low simmer in order to go join them. "We might go visit," she told the children, "But Earth is where we're going to live. You're going to grow up here, go to school here."

"But no one can know we're not from here," Catherine told her brother. "It's a secret. It makes us special."

Sha're smiled at her daughter. "Yes, it does."

* * *

Catherine and Jonathan had quickly gotten used to the idea that sometimes their father's job required him to work weird hours or be gone for multiple days. He would usually try to find souvenirs for them off-world if he could, and if he was just working late in his lab, he'd always call to say good-night. It was definitely different from Abydos, but they'd adjusted.

"Daddy should be coming home tomorrow," Catherine told Cassie as she helped the kids with a crafts project one afternoon. "That's what Mama said. He'll probably call tonight."

"I bet he's going to love these presents you're making for him." Decorating picture frames was the project of the day. Catherine had just gotten her school pictures back, and they'd simply taken a picture of Jonathan so that he could make his own frame.

"He can put them on his desk," Catherine told her. Sha're came into the kitchen, having been putting away laundry in the children's rooms. "What do you think, Mama?"

"They're very pretty. Ten more minutes and then I want you to clean up so we can have dinner."

"Okay," Catherine and Jonathan chorused.

"You can head home for the day if you want," Sha're told Cassie.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, go on. Thanks for your help."

"No problem." She grabbed her coat and bag and headed for the front door, but froze when she got it open and saw two Air Force officers getting out of a car that was parked in the driveway. "Um, Sha're?" she called back to the older woman. "I think you should come here…"

"What is it?" she asked before she also got to the doorway and could see for herself.

"Are you Mrs. Jackson, ma'am?" one of them asked as he stepped up onto the front porch.

"Yes. What's going on?"

"We need you to come with us back to Cheyenne Mountain."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you are here." A horrible thought suddenly dawned on her. "Is this about Dan'iel? Is he all right?"

The officers shared a look. "We don't know. He's missing."

Sha're was frozen for a long moment, trying to wrap her brain around the situation. Missing – not dead, though there was no way of knowing for sure. They'd talked a lot about the realities of his job, but they hadn't discussed what to do when two soldiers showed up at their home to tear her world apart.

She was aware after a moment that Cassie was speaking to her, though it took some effort for the words to register. "Do you want me to stay with the kids?" she was asking. "I can call my mom; she can help with dinner and getting them to bed."

Sha're nodded. "Yes, thank you. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything."

* * *

Jack was waiting for her as soon as the car pulled up at the mountain. "Where is my husband, Jack?" she asked, point blank.

He sighed as he led her to the elevator. "We're not entirely sure. Probably Nicaragua."

She frowned. "He was supposed to be in…Honduras?"

"He was, looking for an artifact – that doesn't matter anymore. The thing that matters is that a couple hours ago, our government received a demand for money in exchange for returning him and one of our scientists."

Sha're frowned. "So you will pay the money?"

"Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Our government doesn't like giving in to terrorists – it tends to make others want to jump on the bandwagon."

"But they are citizens of your country, are they not? How can they simply ignore the fact that their lives are in danger?"

"They're not ignoring it. We're looking into options right now, but no matter what…this is going to be dangerous and there are no guarantees."

Sha're felt like the floor was falling out from underneath her. She had always trusted the team that her husband worked for – they'd gotten themselves into plenty of interesting situations in the past and they'd gotten each other back out. But this…Daniel was somewhere far away and deadly on his own, while everyone else was here, perfectly fine. Somehow it didn't seem fair.

"Listen to me," Jack said, getting her attention back. "I'm going to do everything in my power to bring him home to you, but you've gotta keep it together for those two kids of yours, okay?"

Sha're nodded. "Please, Jack, just find him."


	5. What If?

It was late by the time Sha're was brought back home, after having spoken at length with Jack and General Hammond. Jack was being authorized to go on a rescue mission and had promised her again that he'd do his very best to bring her husband back in one piece.

Cassie and Janet were quietly talking together in the living room when Sha're came in the house, but quickly rose from their seats on the couch when they heard the door open. "What's going on?" Janet asked her friend.

"Are the children asleep?"

Cassie nodded. "Catherine was upset that Daniel didn't call. I tried to tell her that he must just be very busy."

"He has been kidnapped. There are people who want a ransom for his life, which the government will not pay. Jack has gone on a mission to find him, but…he cannot promise the outcome."

Janet stepped forward and hugged her. "Daniel's strong. He knows what he has waiting for him."

"I can come back tomorrow," Cassie offered, "And stay with the kids if you want to go wait for word at SGC."

Sha're tried to smile. "Thank you. I will call you in the morning and let you know. You should both go home; I've taken enough of your time."

"Don't worry about it," Janet told her. "This is what families do."

* * *

At some point in the middle of the night, Catherine had a nightmare. Sha're brought her back into the master bedroom and they both curled up together under the blankets.

"I dreamed Daddy wasn't coming back," the little girl sniffled. "Where is he? Why didn't he call?"

"He is very busy," Sha're told her, reinforcing the lie. "But I'm sure he will call us as soon as he gets the chance."

"Do you think he misses us?"

"I'm sure he does."

"He told me once that his favorite place was anywhere we were."

Sha're smiled. "That I don't doubt."

"But he likes traveling, too. He can learn things on other planets and help people."

"Yes, he can."

Catherine sighed. "I wish other people could know. One of my friends, her dad is a fireman. She said he's a hero. Daddy's a hero, too, right?"

Sha're kissed her daughter's head. "Yes, he is."

"Except nobody can know about it. That doesn't seem fair."

"I know. But that is not why he does the job."

* * *

Catherine finally fell asleep again once she'd calmed down. After they had breakfast and Sha're got her daughter on the school bus, she called Cassie to come over. The waiting wasn't any better at the SGC than at home, but at least Jonathan didn't have to see her balancing on the brink.

General Hammond was kind and let her stay in the conference room all day. He got someone to bring up tea and then lunch for her. Every time someone came up the stairs or she could hear the phone in his office ring, she was a little more on edge. Sometime in the late afternoon, when the phone rang she could see the General abruptly stand in his office. He glanced out the door at her for a moment, and Sha're's heart started to race. The look on his face was unreadable, but thankfully the call was short. After hanging up, he joined her in the conference room.

"That was Colonel O'Neill," he told her, before his face broke into a smile. "He's got Dr. Jackson."

It took a few hours before they arrived in Colorado. Daniel had a bullet hole in his leg and looked like he'd been through a lot, but he was safe and alive and home. Convincing Janet to let him sleep in his own house for the night wasn't easy, but Sha're managed it.

Limping on crutches, Daniel gave a sigh as they came in the front door. "Home sweet home," he murmured.

"Are you all right?" Cassie asked, getting up from her spot in the kitchen where she'd been working on her laptop.

"Yeah, I will be," Daniel told her. "Thanks for looking after the kids."

"It's no problem, really. They're both asleep; didn't have any real problems getting them to bed. I bet they're going to be really anxious to see you in the morning, though."

* * *

Sha're let Cassie out while Daniel hobbled his way up the stairs. It probably would have been easier to just sleep on the couch, but he wanted – needed – to see his children.

He stopped in Catherine's room first; she was curled up with a teddy bear that Sam had given her, brown curls flowing over her pillow. "Sweet dreams," he whispered before closing the door back. Jonathan was sideways on his bed, his blanket and sheet going in all different directions, and Daniel righted him with a smile before tucking his covers back in. He wouldn't have expected anything else from the often rambunctious little boy.

He continued on down the hallway to his bedroom and found that Sha're was already there, changing into nightclothes. "Do you need help?" she asked him as he struggled to sit on the bed without hurting his leg.

"No, I've got it."

She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness and came around the bed to help him take off his shirt and pants. She then retrieved a pair of sweatpants and another t-shirt from the dresser and helped him get dressed. "Thank you," he told her as he lay down. She started to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist. "Where are you going?"

"To check on the children."

"I just did; they're fine. I've been dreaming about having you back in my arms for the past 72 hours." After only a moment's hesitation, she got in bed as well and snuggled against him as he wrapped his arms around her. Silence reigned for a long moment.

"I don't know if I can do this," Sha're whispered at one point.

"Do what?"

She took a deep breath. "No matter where you go, the children always have faith that you're coming back…What happens when you don't?"

Daniel sighed. "I know this was really close, sweetheart."

"It's always close; I understand that now. And before…before it was just me. But what happens to your children, Dan'iel, if you leave them without a father?"

He was quiet for a very long moment. "I was a year older than Catherine when my parents died," he finally said. "I've never thought about it like that – never wanted to." He shook his head slightly, as though to clear the thought. "I know it's a risk, but I don't want them to grow up in a galaxy where people don't stand up against oppression, don't help those who need it. Does that make sense to you?"

Sha're didn't answer at first. "I understand your reasons, my husband. But that does not mean I like the risks."

He pulled her closer. "I know. I'll always do everything I can to make sure I come home."

* * *

TBC...


	6. the Sky is Falling

Normally, Saturdays were Daniel's day to sleep in. And he cherished them. That was why the sound of his daughter's voice by his ear one November morning before it was even seven AM wasn't exactly welcome.

"Daddy, Daddy, wake up!" Catherine was insisting. "There's something wrong with the sky!"

"It falling 'part," Jonathan added from his place beside his sister.

Daniel groaned, blinking against the light coming in the window. "What?" he asked them.

"Come see!" Catherine said, trying to pull him from bed with her grasp on his hand.

"Catie, let go," he told her. "I can get up myself." He followed his two anxious children over to the window and had to laugh when he looked outside. "Is that what you're going on about?" The two children nodded. "Guys, its just snow!"

"What's snow?" Catherine asked.

"I know you've seen pictures of the mountains in the winter."

She skeptically glanced back outside. "That's how all the white stuff gets on the ground?"

"Yeah, it is. And it's gonna happen a lot over the next couple of months."

"We go outside?" Jonathan asked.

"If you two go back to your rooms or go downstairs and play quietly while your mama and I get another hour of sleep, then yes, we can go outside."

As Jonathan let out a cheer, Catherine quickly ushered him out of their parents' room. Daniel shut – and locked – the door behind them before returning to bed. "Faker," he told his wife, who appeared to still be sleeping.

Sha're smiled, though her eyes remained closed. "You didn't need my assistance."

* * *

Catherine and Jonathan were actually surprisingly quiet and well-behaved, so Daniel and Sha're got up and headed downstairs to join their children after about 45 minutes. After a good breakfast of hot cereal, then came the task of getting the kids bundled up into their snow gear.

A layer of normal clothes came first, and would be followed by coats, snow pants, boots, mittens, scarves, and hats. "Last chance," Daniel told both kids as he got them dressed in the garage while Sha're cleaned up the kitchen. "Do either of you have to go to the bathroom?" He wasn't going to put on their outer garments until he was sure.

They both shook their heads. "Come on, Daddy, we want to go outside!" Catherine told him.

"Okay, okay." Jonathan was the one who needed the most help; Catherine could get on her own pants and coat, though she complained about how restrictive the puffy jacket was. Daniel was helping both of them with gloves and hats when Sha're joined them, pulling on her own coat.

"Are we ready?" she asked her husband, offering him snow jacket. He straightened Jonathan's hat on his head, making sure the little boy could see out from underneath it, and then nodded.

"I think so."

"I'm ready!" Catherine excitedly exclaimed.

Jonathan looked up at his father. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"I gotta go bathroom." Daniel sighed.

Sha're tried to stifle a laugh at the look on her husband's face. "I'll take him back inside. You go on with Catie."

"Let me know if you have trouble bundling him back up," he told her as they disappeared back into the house. Zippers and snaps were still a bit of a foreign concept sometimes.

Daniel pushed the button on the wall for the garage door opener, and he and Catherine watched as the winter wonderland outside was revealed. The snow had been falling heavily since some time in the early hours of the morning; it was starting to pile up.

"What are we supposed to do?" she asked her father.

"Well…come over here…" They went to stand in the middle of the yard. "Now stick out your tongue, and try to catch a snowflake." Catherine looked at him skeptically, but obeyed, giggling as the snowflakes fell on her up-turned face.

* * *

Sha're and Jonathan came outside as well after a little while and Daniel suggested making a family of snowmen, one for each of them. After rolling all the necessary balls, Catherine and Jonathan went looking for any sticks or rocks that weren't already totally buried in snow while their parents put the finishing touches on the snowmen.

"Here, Daddy!" Catherine cried as she ran back, offering a handful of twigs.

"Perfect," he told her. "We can use these for arms…" he stuck them into the snowmen, "And did you find any stones?" She shook her head. "Well, we can just draw the faces in with fingers." He was in the middle of showing her how when he felt something impact his back. Looking up, he saw Sha're trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "Did you just hit me with a snowball?" he asked incredulously.

"Me?" she asked. "What is a snowball?"

"Oh, that does it!" he replied, bending to make a snowball of his own and lob it at his wife. She tried to move out of the way, but wasn't fast enough.

"What are you doing??" Catherine asked her parents, watching from the sidelines with her brother. Sha're helped her daughter make her own little weapon.

"Come on, help me get your father," she told her.

"No, no! No ganging up on me!" Daniel exclaimed. Catherine's grin turned wicked as she threw the snowball at him before bending to make another.

They all ran around the yard, throwing and ducking. Jonathan could hardly keep up, but was giggling like mad as he tried. Eventually, Daniel decided to use his daughter as a human shield, and all four of them ended up in a pile on the ground, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.

"Daddy?" Catherine asked as they began to calm down.

"Yeah, honey?"

"I like Earth."

He smiled. "I'm glad."

* * *

By the time they'd made a family of snow angels to go along with the family of snowmen, everyone was getting cold and wet and tired. Safely back inside, they all got showers – or baths, in the children's cases – changed their clothes, and cuddled up together in the living room for hot chocolate.

"I hope it snows every day all winter," Catherine declared. "This was fun."

"Trust me, you'll get sick of it after a while," Daniel told her.

"I don't think so. Colorado has to be the greatest place in the whole galaxy."

"Well, I don't know about that. There are thousands of very wonderful places on many different planets – I think one of the ones I'm studying right now has to be one of the greatest in the galaxy."

"Where is it?" Catherine asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure where it is yet. It's a city that got lost."

She giggled. "How can you lose something as big as a city?"

"There aren't any clear records written down of where it went. It was built by the same people who created all of the Stargates. They had an enormous, beautiful city where they lived. They studied all kinds of science and made many inventions. But it wasn't just a city – it could fly through space…"

* * *

Eventually Jonathan got restless, so Sha're took him up to his room. Catherine actually fell asleep with her father, listening to his thoughts on the Lost City of Atlantis. Sha're smiled at the sight of the two of them together as she came back downstairs. "I think you wore her out this morning."

He returned her grin. "Yeah, she always was the good one about naps."

"Well, Jonathan has decided to be cooperative today."

"Good. Hopefully he won't fall asleep at the dinner table tonight. I'm going to go take her upstairs; I'll be right back."

Sha're was lost in thought, staring into the lit fireplace, when he returned. "What's in that beautiful head of yours?" Daniel asked as he joined her.

"Nothing, just…she takes after you."

He smiled. "Oh really? I seem to remember someone else who was also starving for knowledge when we first met."

"Perhaps…But she looks for all the details in things, just like you."

His smile grew. "You know, hearing that she liked things here, that she was happy…I didn't know how much I needed that."

Sha're smiled. "It was the right decision, Dan'iel."

* * *

**TBC...**

**Thanks for all of the reviews I've gotten so far!**


	7. Holiday Spirit

As winter progressed, Catherine certainly liked the weather, but Sha're started to get a bit homesick. The temperatures were often low enough that it wasn't a good idea to be outside, and she knew it was still supposed to get worse before spring. Even during the worst of the dust storm season on Abydos, there weren't so many days where it wasn't possible to be outdoors. On days where the weather did warm up slightly, getting dressed in all of the required garments took time – especially when she both of the children were home. She missed her planet.

"Do you want to go back to Abydos?" Daniel asked her one night in early December as they cleaned up the living room together.

"What?"

"Catherine will be out of school for a couple weeks at Christmas. We could go back for a visit."

Sha're sighed. "I would love to…but you've been looking forward to sharing Christmas with us. And Catherine wanted to celebrate with her friends."

He shrugged. "There will be other years."

"She has a life here, Dan'iel. A life where's she's learned to pretend that she is of this world. She's happy here, comfortable…I don't want to disrupt that. Does that make sense?"

"It does…But I want you to be happy, too."

Sha're smiled. "I am. We'll go to Abydos in the summer."

Daniel thought for a moment before speaking again. "Would you be interested in going to a university here?"

She looked up, surprised. "Me?"

"It might be a bigger adjustment than Catie, but…In a couple years, JJ's going to be in school, too. What would you do during the day?"

"Enjoy a quiet house," she replied with a smile.

"Well, yes, you could do that. I just thought…I don't know. That maybe you'd like to find something to study, have a job of your own."

She smiled a little. "I have a job, Dan'iel, right here."

"I know that – and I know me being gone a lot probably doesn't do anything to make it easier…Do you remember when I first started teaching you English on Abydos?" She nodded. "I think your favorite word was 'more.' You always wanted to learn something else, hear some other story about Earth…I loved watching you. Loved seeing the excitement in your eyes."

"I had a good teacher."

"Thank you, but you also love learning. Always have. And I want you to be able to do the things you enjoy."

* * *

Sha're had to admit that the idea grew on her rather quickly. She had no idea what she wanted to study, but the thought of being able to go to a university appealed to her greatly.

"You probably don't want to do more than one class a semester right now," Cassie told her as they looked through a course catalog together one afternoon. "Just take a bunch of different things until you find something you want to major in."

"I don't know if I would want to only pick one thing," Sha're told her. "It seems like it would be better to just take many classes in different areas, learn about everything."

The younger girl laughed. "Unfortunately, they don't give degrees for being undecided."

At that moment, the front door opened and Catherine came inside. "Mama, Daddy needs help."

Sha're rolled her eyes. "How big is it?" she asked her daughter.

She just smiled. "Big."

Daniel and Catherine had gone out Christmas tree shopping while Sha're and Cassie stayed with a napping Jonathan. (She'd been happy to find that something about the winter season made the little boy more prone to sleeping in the afternoons). Daniel had promised he wouldn't get a tree that was bigger than what he could carry – after all, how would they get it set up otherwise – but the holiday season had turned her husband into the third child of the family.

Outside in the driveway, Daniel had managed to get the tree off of their SUV's roof, but that was about it. "I swear, it seemed smaller at the lot," he told his wife.

"I'm certain," she sarcastically replied. "And how are you going to get it inside now?"

Daniel smiled sheepishly. "I grab the big end, you grab the little end?"

"I'll help, too!" Catherine offered.

By the time Jonathan was up from his nap, the tree was in a stand in the middle of the living room and Catherine and Daniel were working on lights. After lights – and a break for dinner – came ornaments, and then it was time to top the tree with the star.

"You want to do the honors?" Daniel asked his wife.

"You're taller," she pointed out.

He smirked, knowing she was still pretending – or at least he hoped she was pretending – to be mad at him. "There's a ladder."

Catherine and Jonathan shared the job of turning everything on; he held the end of the extension cord while she plugged in the end of the light string. Both children's eyes lit up as the tree illuminated their living room.

"It's pretty, Daddy," Catherine told him.

Jonathan nodded in agreement. "Big nightlight," he told his mother with a grin. Sha're laughed.

"Yes, but you can't sleep down here."

* * *

Once the kids were in bed, Daniel joined his wife downstairs to help clean up. "Am I still in the dog house?" he asked her.

"Possibly."

"You've gotta admit it's a beautiful tree."

"It is," she agreed, "But you still broke your word. You'll have to make it up to me."

Daniel smiled. "I think I can handle that." He wrapped his arms around her, bringing his lips to meet hers. Neither pulled away until they were breathless. "How's that?"

"You don't think you're finished, do you?"

"No, ma'am, but we'd better go upstairs for the rest."

"Lead the way."

"You know," he quietly said as they walked up the steps, "Some of the SG teams were thinking about having a Christmas party this weekend. Just for everyone who wasn't able to get back home – wherever that may be – for the holidays. You think we should take the kids?"

"It sounds like a nice idea."

"Good."

"You know what would be a better idea, my Dan'iel?" she asked as the bedroom door shut behind them. "No more talking." He smiled.

"I can live with that."

* * *

The party was held in the mess at the SGC. Most of the guests were younger officers who hadn't been fortunate enough to get their schedules arranged in such a way that they could travel home. Jack had mumbled and grumbled when he heard about the event, but Daniel wasn't surprised to see him there anyway. Teal'c was taking in everything with a cool eye, half-listening as Sam and Dr. Lee conversed at light-speed about tech-stuff nearby.

"No food without showing it to me or your mother first," Daniel warned the kids. "We'll tell you when you've had enough; we still have to eat dinner after this."

"Okay," they both chorused before running off to say hello to the other members of SG-1. Jack approached Daniel and Sha're.

"Was wondering when you'd get here," he said.

"We had a bit of a clothes crisis," Daniel replied.

"You look beautiful," Jack told Sha're. She laughed.

"No, it was Catie."

"I'm not looking forward to when she becomes a teenager," Daniel added.

After about an hour, a call came across the PA system that Sha're wasn't expecting. "Dr. Jackson, report to the control room. Dr. Jackson, to the control room."

She frowned, looking to her husband. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. I'll be right back, okay? Just stay with the kids."

The cookies and punch weren't enough to keep Catherine and Jonathan distracted. "Where'd Daddy go?" Catherine asked her mother.

"I'm not sure. Someone must have wanted to talk to him."

"But he's not working today," she pointed out.

"Around here," Jack told her, "That doesn't always matter."

Ten minutes later, Daniel returned. "Sorry about that," he told his family. "There was – ah, it doesn't matter. But, look what I found." He produced a small wrapped box from behind his back and handed it to Catherine. With Jonathan's help, she tore off the wrapping paper, but discovered nothing but a card inside. Even more puzzling, it was written in her mother's language.

"Look outside for a surprise," she read aloud. "I don't get it."

"How about you do what it says and you'll figure it out." She shrugged and pulled her little brother along with her.

"What are you up to, Dan'iel?" Sha're asked her husband.

"Who me?"

Following her children into the hallway, she was stunned to see both of them being wrapped up in hugs by her father. "What are you doing here?" she asked, incredulous, as she stepped forward to get a hug as well.

"Dan'iel sent a message to come on this day. He said it was a time of great celebration on Earth."

He smiled somewhat shyly. "The holidays are all about family. If we weren't going to yours, I thought maybe I could bring at least one of them to you."

Catherine and Jonathan quickly monopolized Kasuf's attention, excitedly telling him about their Christmas tree at home and the snow outside and the legend of Santa Claus. Sha're stepped away from them to kiss her husband.

"Thank you," she told him, and meant it from the bottom of her heart.

He smiled. "Anything to make you smile."

* * *

**TBC...**

**Again, thanks for the reviews. They make long days at work a little brighter. 8-)**


	8. Valentine

After the big hit that was Christmas, Daniel decided that surprises were the way to go for holidays, at least until he ran out of ideas. Next on his list as winter progressed was Valentine's Day.

"It sounds fantastic, Daniel," Janet told him as she looked at the brochure for the mountain resort that he'd selected. She'd been recruited as a co-conspirator. "Sha're will love it."

"Are you sure? I've never done anything big like this before, so…"

"Trust me, she'll love it," Janet repeated.

"And you really don't mind keeping the kids for the weekend?"

"No, we'll have a great time. Maybe I'll throw together a little winter camp-in for them in the living room. Cassie used to love doing that; we'd have hot chocolate and make s'mores in the fireplace."

"Um, Jonathan doesn't like chocolate."

She raised an eyebrow with a smile. "What planet is he from?"

"Cute. And thanks; I owe you."

* * *

Daniel planned his surprise for the weekend after the holiday, but there was plenty to do beforehand. Catherine's class at school was having a Valentine's Day party, so that meant she needed festive clothes and a couple boxes of Valentines.

"We made mailboxes today," Catherine told her parents as they sat around the kitchen table, helping her get all of her little cards into their envelopes once she'd signed them. "Except they don't look like mailboxes. They're just bags."

"But you decorated them, right?" Daniel asked her. Catherine nodded.

"Yeah, mine's got a big pink heart on the front. And then I drew more hearts with crayons."

"Sounds lovely."

"You can see it tomorrow. It'll be full of Valentines from everyone else."

"Ah, yes, she'll be totally hopped up on sugar when she gets home," Daniel warned his wife.

"Thank you for the notice."

After signing the last card in the box, Catherine got up to retrieve some of her art supplies from the toy chest in the living room. "I have to make six more cards," she told her parents.

"For who?" Daniel asked. "We got everybody in your class, didn't we?"

"No, these are special ones. For Jack and Sam and Teal'c and Janet and Cassie and General Hammond."

He smiled. "That's a nice idea, but I don't want you up late, so don't go too crazy, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

She just barely managed to finish them all before being forced off to bed. In the morning, Daniel got to be the delivery man at work. It amused him greatly to see that by the end of the day, Hammond's card was hanging on the wall in the General's office; apparently they really were all one big family.

Catherine was definitely still on a sugar rush by the time she got home. She made her mother cringe with the list of all the junk she'd eaten that afternoon.

"I'm surprised you haven't made yourself sick."

"Nope, it was yummy. You want to see my cards?"

"You don't want to wait for your father and show us both at once?"

Catherine shook her head. "He takes too long to get home from work."

Jonathan was napping, so Sha're and Catherine cuddled up together on the couch with her paper-bag mailbox full of cards. Most of them were from packages just like the ones Catherine had handed out, though some of the cartoon characters on the fronts were unfamiliar.

"Nobody was supposed to get more than anybody else," Catherine told her mother, "But me and Megan did because we each gave each other two." She grinned, proud of herself for finding a way around the system.

"Well, this is definitely an impressive number…Oh, were did this one come from?" she asked her daughter, pulling out a final card that was different from all the rest. It had been handmade in the shape of a heart and decorated with healthy amounts of glitter. Catherine smiled.

"Timmy Hathaway. He made it for me himself."

"I can see that. He must be a special friend."

Catherine looked away shyly. "He kissed me when he gave it to me. Right here." She pointed to her cheek.

"I see…Do you like him, too?"

"I don't know…Megan said that I got cooties from him."

"Cooties?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what they were either. Boy germs, I guess. She said some little rhyme that's supposed to make me all better."

Sha're laughed. "Well, I suppose that sometimes, for the right boy, getting 'cooties' is worth it."

* * *

Catherine was a bright girl. By this point in her life, she'd figured out that her most favorite bedtime story – about a princess and a stranger from another world – was about her parents. To her, their true story was better than any fairy tale she'd heard about on Earth.

"All ready for bed?" Daniel asked his daughter as he came into her doorway. She finished running her brush through her hair two more times, then put it down on her dresser and jumped into bed. Her father came over to tuck her in. "Warm enough?"

"Uh-huh."

Sha're was in the hallway, having checked on their sleeping son, and reached earshot of her daughter's door just in time to hear her ask, "Daddy? How did Grandfather know?"

"How did your grandfather know what?"

"That you were the right person to give Mama to?"

"Um, well…He thought that I was the right person because of a talisman that I was wearing. He thought it was a sign from the Gods."

"But the false Gods are evil…so he thought you were one of them?"

"He thought that if your mother and I got married, it would mean good things for the people on Abydos. And it did – she showed me the caves, and then we were able to get rid of Ra." Sha're covered her mouth to hide a laugh; if nothing else, her husband had a skill for coming up with pretty good answers under pressure.

Catherine was quiet for a moment, thinking about that. "So how will you know?" she asked.

"How will I know what?" Daniel replied.

"Who the right man is to give me to?"

He almost choked. "What?!"

"Daddy's not going to have to think about that for a very long time," Sha're rescued her husband. Daniel could see the slightly evil glint in her eye, however – she was enjoying this.

"I'm not EVER thinking about it," he responded. "The first time some teenage boy comes here looking for you, I'll meet him on the front porch with a P-90."

Sha're didn't even try to hide her laughter that time, bending to kiss her daughter on the forehead. "Don't worry, sweetheart; I'll work on him. And someday you will marry a man just as wonderful as your father."

Catherine smiled. "Goodnight, Mama."

* * *

Sha're finally managed to calm her husband down, and Daniel conceded to maybe allowing their daughter to date at some point before she finished college. His over-protectiveness amused her, but also reaffirmed how much he loved their children.

They ended up cuddled in bed together, just enjoying each other's company and the quiet in the house. "So," Sha're asked at one point, "Where are we going for dinner tomorrow?" In order to cover up his surprise, Daniel had told her they would postpone celebrating for a day since it was easier than trying to go out on a school night.

"Nice try, but I'm not telling."

"Mmm. But I don't know what to wear."

"Something nice…What about that black dress Sam gave you?"

"All right. What else should I pack?"

Daniel frowned. "What else…" Then it dawned on him. "How did you find out?!"

Sha're laughed. "The resort called here this afternoon to confirm."

He let out a sigh. "Damnit, I told them to call my cell phone."

"Don't be angry; I love that you were planning something special."

"Even if the surprise got ruined?"

"I was surprised this afternoon," she pointed out before leaning over to kiss him. "Happy Valentine's Day, my husband.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

* * *

TBC...


	9. Hero

Daniel walked into his house after what had probably been one of the hardest days of his life. Right up there with the day his parents died and the day Sha're and Skaara had been taken from Abydos. His wife was in the living room, looking through one of the books for her courses. "Hey," he quietly said. "Um…we need to talk."

"Daddy!" a voice exclaimed, and he looked up to see that Catherine was at the top of the stairs, dressed in her pajamas.

"Hey, sweetheart, what are you doing up?"

"You are supposed to be in bed, Catherine," Sha're told her.

"I know, but I wanted to wait for Daddy." Daniel met her halfway up the staircase and pulled her into his arms.

"You know that I love you, right?" he asked her.

"I know. I love you, too."

"Good. Now do as your mama says and get yourself in bed." He watched her head back towards her room, and then joined Sha're in the living room.

"What's wrong?" she asked her husband.

"There…oh, God, this is hard. There was a mission today – SG-13 was studying some ruins. But it was a trap, and there was an ambush…Janet..." He stopped for a moment, trying to keep himself together. "Janet's gone, Sha're."

She looked up alarmed. "What??"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"No, that can't – she can't…" But it was the truth. She could see the tears in her husband's eyes and felt some of her own start to fall. "Wh-why was she off-world?"

"There was a soldier that was injured. We couldn't move him; he would have died. So she came…She came to save him, and ended up giving her life instead."

* * *

Sleep didn't come easy that night. Daniel knew that Sam was taking care of telling Cassie, but he wanted to check on the 20-year-old himself. Before that, however, he and Sha're had to worry about telling their own children.

"Come on in here," Daniel told Catie and Jonathan as he led them into his bedroom. As they got them settled in the middle of the bed, he could see that Sha're was already struggling not to cry. "Mama and Daddy got some sad news yesterday. You know Cassie's mama, Janet?" Both children nodded. "Well…she came out on a mission with me and Sam and Jack and Teal'c to help some other soldiers."

"They were hurt?" Catie asked. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, one of them was hurt very badly. But going to help him was very dangerous; there were a lot of Jaffa there. Janet ended up getting hurt, too, and…we did everything we could, but she didn't make it."

Catherine's eyes were wide in shock; Jonathan seemed confused. "Make it where?" the little boy asked his father. Sha're held him.

"She's gone away, to the afterlife," Daniel told him, pulling Catherine into his arms as she started to cry. "You're not…you're not going to be able to see her anymore, not for a long time."

"Like Grandfather?"

"No, not like Grandfather."

"He's too little," Sha're whispered to him. Daniel sighed.

"It's not fair," Catherine was whimpering, over and over.

"I know, sweetheart. It's not fair at all."

* * *

It was difficult to have two children who were at such different levels. Jonathan really didn't get it, and they weren't sure how to explain any better. Catherine mainly just couldn't understand how something like that could happen to someone they cared about. Before, Daniel's job had always just been an adventure; they'd kept the children carefully sheltered from the danger. But now…

When Daniel got back home that night after a second visit with Cassie, Sha're was on the couch with Catie asleep in her lap, gently playing with the little girl's hair. "She had a nightmare," she whispered to her husband, "That none of you came back from that mission."

Daniel sighed, kneeling beside them. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when she woke up."

"It's all right; I calmed her down. How's Cassie?"

"Broken. She…she was trying to pretend when I was over there earlier today, but Sam said that sometime around dinner…she just cracked. The kid's lost three parents in her lifetime – three! The look in her eyes…" He blinked back tears. "She actually asked me if it was her fault, if somehow…somehow it was because of her."

Sha're looked away. "I'm glad Sam convinced her to stay with her for the time being. The thought of Cassie alone in that house…"

"I know." Silence reigned for a long moment. "What if I made the wrong choice?" Daniel finally quietly asked.

"What?"

"Do I have a right to do this to you? To the kids? I tried to convince myself that my job was my risk to take, that it didn't affect you and the rewards were worth it, but…I've lost friends before – good friends – and I've dealt with it. But how do you ask a seven-year-old to deal with it, like this is a normal life? How do you try and make sense of it to a three-year-old? Are we insane? Or just incredibly selfish?"

"Would you rather they live in fear? Never receiving any gains or making any new discoveries because of the risks involved in the process? Your daughter thinks you're a hero, Dan'iel. As do I. And not because of the people you help or the treasures you find, but because you have given her a very important gift – dreams. I am sure Cassandra was inspired in a similar way. Sometimes the price we pay is very great, but I believe our children will be better off because of what you do, and because they knew people like Janet. We can't protect them from everything in the universe."

He sighed. "I know…but I wish we could shield them from the hard stuff."

"Then it would not be living."

* * *

Daniel and Sha're thought long and hard about whether or not they wanted to take their children to the memorial service. In the end, Catherine asked that she be allowed to go, and they didn't want to tell her no. Sha're bought black dresses for them, and a little suit for Jonathan, and they joined the rest of SG-1 and the other base personnel in the gate room to pay tribute.

It was a beautiful service; Sam gave an amazing eulogy. After it was over, Catherine slipped away from her parents to approach the young brunette that she considered like a big sister. Cassie was motionless in a chair, staring up at the flag and podium that had been set up in front of the gate. Trying to imagine seeing her mother smile one last time before she walked through.

"Cassie?" Catherine asked. "I wanted to give you something." She reached into the little black purse that she was carrying and pulled out a white feather.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"On Abydos, when someone dies, there's a ceremony. Kind of like this. Someone is chosen to speak for them, someone who loved the person very much. They ask that the feather gets weighed against the person's heart, and if the feather weighs more, then the person's spirit is at peace…I didn't have a scale like my Grandfather's, so I used the see-saw at school. But the side with the feather stayed down, so I think that your mom is okay now."

Cassie stared at her for a long moment, trying to absorb the gesture that the little girl had made, and praying that she was right. "Thank you," she quietly said. "That…that means a lot."

* * *

TBC...


	10. Vacation

**Thanks for all of the feedback I've gotten! I know I didn't HAVE to kill Janet, but despite that ending, Heroes is one of my very favorite episodes because of everyone else's reactions.**

* * *

One unfortunate side effect of fighting to keep the Goa'uld from taking over the galaxy was that on occasion, the bad guys decided to take the fight straight to Earth. Most people on the planet were blissfully unaware of how close they came to total annihilation, or the fact that the secret to the Earth's defense was located deep underneath the snow in Antarctica. Once the danger was gone, that base – left behind thousands of years earlier by the Ancients – became the best resource the SGC had for finding the Lost City of Atlantis. As summer approached, however, the team assigned to the facility wasn't making much progress.

"I think we're going to have to put off our trip by about a week or two," Daniel told his wife as she cooked dinner one night. "If it was anything else, I'd say no, but…it's about Atlantis."

She smiled slightly. "I've been waiting for you to tell me this for a week."

"Yeah, took a little while to get the courage…You could go on without me with the kids."

Sha're shook her head. "We can wait. Father isn't expecting us on a particular date."

"Are you sure?" she nodded. "In that case, maybe I could make things a little easier for you – take one kid off your hands."

"What?"

"I'm not sure why Jack agreed to this – maybe he was distracted by the Jell-O in the mess – but he okayed me bringing Catie along. Technically, she has the clearance, although I'm sure this is going to get very quietly slipped into some report for the Pentagon."

"She would be thrilled."

"I thought so, too. So you're okay with this?"

"Only a couple weeks?" she asked.

"I promise…or if not, you can go on without us." Sha're threw a dish rag at him. "Okay, okay! I promise. Two weeks, tops, and then we leave for Abydos. With or without finding Atlantis."

* * *

So many things about the trip made it special for Catherine, besides their destination. It was her first time on an airplane, first time out of Colorado, first time going outside the city limits without her mother… Jack had gotten a small SGC jacket for her and designated her as 'his eyes and ears' at the base. Catherine would miss General Hammond, but so far it seemed like having Jack in charge had some interesting perks.

"Look down there," Daniel told his daughter, pointing out the window of the helicopter they were riding in. A smile crossed her face as she obeyed and saw the only man-made object on the snow-covered landscape – a glass dome.

"Is that it?" she asked.

He nodded. "That's it."

The chopper landed and they both hurried inside the facility, along with the few other personnel that had ridden with them from McMurdo. A brown-haired woman was waiting for them. "Welcome, Dr. Jackson," she told Daniel.

"Thanks, Elizabeth. I love what you've done with the place."

She laughed. "We've come a long way in a month. We'd raise the temperature higher, but the walls would start melting."

"Hate it when that happens," he kidded back. "This is Catherine, my daughter. Catie, this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir."

She smiled at the little girl as she shook her hand. "I hear you're set to follow in your father's footsteps?"

Catherine shrugged. "Maybe."

They unpacked in the living quarters first; at least that structure was heated, if sparsely furnished. The mess hall was also the main social area; the team had started giving nightly lectures on each of the research areas in order to keep each other up to date. They also had frequent poker games.

At the bottom of the longest elevator that Catherine had ever seen was a more amazing place than she'd dreamed of. The icy outpost was beautiful, brightly lit and ornate. If that was only the landing pad for Atlantis, she couldn't imagine what the actual city looked like.

Dr. Weir showed them around, pointing out all of the things that they'd added or learned about since Daniel's brief visit to the base a few months earlier. "We're getting better at understanding the technology left behind here, but we're still no closer to actually finding where Atlantis went." She handed him a tablet PC. "This is the latest batch of writings that we've been able to translate."

"I'll get on it." He turned to his daughter. "Do you want to keep looking around?" Catherine nodded. "Okay, what's rule number one?"

"Don't touch anything unless someone says it's okay."

"Thank you. Go on."

* * *

Catherine quickly found that most of the people in the base were extremely nice. Peter, one of the engineers, let her touch a drone; he'd quickly realized that he should have first asked if she (like her father) had the ATA gene when the device started glowing dimly. Heather and Carson, the two doctors on the team, wouldn't let her get put in the stasis chamber, but they did explain what they'd learned about it so far. William, one of the astrophysicists, showed her what they'd been able to determine from the Ancients' database about how the galaxy had changed in the last several million years.

"Oh, God, is it show and tell again?" one of the other astrophysicists, Rodney McKay, asked – or rather, whined – as he walked up to see his teammate with Catherine. "Come on, go bug someone else. We've got work to do."

"You're fine," William assured her. "Some days he's just grumpy. And by some I mean all."

McKay glared. "Cute. Go get your father to show you what he's doing or something."

Catherine got up – her father's second rule was not to bother anyone if they were too busy to show her something. "Thanks, Dr. Mendes," she said. "I guess I'll just head back up to the mess. I've got a book to read."

"You sure?" She nodded. "Okay, same time tomorrow, then." Catherine headed for the elevator. "What is your problem?" the scientist asked McKay. "She'd been down here for fifteen minutes. I told her I could go over some stuff with her after lunch everyday; the kid's got a knack for science."

"This isn't a day care," McKay grumbled. "I don't even know what the hell she's doing here."

The other man rolled his eyes as he turned back to his computer. "Obviously, to make your life miserable."

"Mmm, I'm sure."

* * *

Catherine spent most of the rest of the day up in the mess hall working on her summer reading list. Just before dinnertime, however, she rode back down to the ice base and tracked down McKay. "Oh, what now?" he groaned when he saw her.

"I just wanted to give this to you," she told him, handing him a piece of paper. "For your desk or something." He rolled his eyes, but took the sheet from her. A frown crossed his face as he looked at it.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"A cat."

"I can see that. Why are you giving me a picture of a cat?"

"You have one, don't you? I just figured maybe you miss it. I know I miss my mom and brother, and I haven't been gone as long as you have. I thought maybe if you had a picture, you wouldn't miss it as much."

McKay was speechless. "Really?"

Catherine smiled. "Uh-huh."

"Well…wow, I…um…Maybe you're not quite as rotten of a kid as most."

She cocked her head in confusion. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"Yeah."

Her smile returned. "Okay. See you at dinner."

McKay nodded. "Yeah, see you."

* * *

TBC...


	11. Inspiration

By the time Daniel's two weeks were coming to a close, they still hadn't found the location of Atlantis. They had an address, but the dialing computer at the SGC couldn't get a lock. They'd tried everything they could think of to ensure that they were compensating for the expanding universe and any other possible problem, but nothing worked.

"Has your father yet tried to see if you can stay longer?" Sha're asked her daughter as they spoke via satellite phone.

"No. He said we're coming home anyway because otherwise he'd be in the doghouse…but we don't have a dog."

Sha're laughed. "It's not meant to be taken literally. But tell him I said yes, he will be in serious trouble if you don't come home on Saturday."

"I will. I'm going to go back down now. There's a meeting and I want to listen."

"All right, sweetheart. I love you and I'll see you soon."

"I love you, too, Mama. Tell Jonathan that I said hi."

"I will."

* * *

After hanging up, Catherine grabbed a notebook and some pens and headed for the elevator to the base. Truth be told, she wouldn't have objected if her father had wanted to stay another week or two. As anxious as she was to see her grandfather and uncle again, she loved the Atlantus outpost. What if they were right on the edge of finding the Ancient city, but they didn't because her father left the team? Who knew what kind of amazing discoveries would never be located?

Daniel was talking with Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay, Dr. Beckett, and a few of the other scientists near the control chair. Of all the pieces of technology in the base, nothing confused them more. So far no one had been able to control it as well as Jack once had while he possessed the knowledge of the Ancients. Until they got that up and running, the base was pretty much useless as a defense platform. For all they knew, it held the secret of where Atlantis had gone.

From the doorway, Catherine watched the conversation that was taking place. Nobody seemed to mind when she listened in on their brainstorming sessions, and she always made sure that she was quiet and barely noticeable. "So far," Daniel was saying, "We know that the chair has at least two functions – we've seen from experience that it can control the weapons platform, and we assume that, like the chair on Proklarush Taonas, it can be used for navigation."

"Yeah, well, so far no one on the team has been able to get it operational," McKay pointed out.

"I know."

"How exactly can it be used for navigation?" Dr. Weir asked. "I mean, I don't think this outpost is going anywhere, or else it wouldn't have been left behind."

"Agreed, and the same was true for the outpost on Proklarush. But Jack was able to pull up this star map. A 3-D hologram of the galaxy and its star systems. With a thought, it could be changed to look at any world anywhere in the Milky Way. According to its database, Atlantis was still on Earth, but that information was around 30 million years old."

McKay sniffed. "Just needed a small upgrade."

* * *

When Daniel went looking for his daughter after the meeting, he found her hunched over a drawing at one of the free desks. "Hey, honey, are you okay?"

"Uh-huh."

"You know, Jack's coming down here to visit tomorrow."

"I know. I'm making a picture for him."

"Oh, of what?"

She held up the crayon drawing. "I heard you before. Talking about what you saw when he made the other chair work. See?" she asked, pointing to the three swirls of color. "I made different star systems. This one's where Earth is. This one is where Abydos is. And this one is where Atlantis is."

Daniel smiled, taking the paper. She'd still been working on coloring the open spaces on the page black, but the purple, blue, and green spiraling pinwheel shapes were actually very pretty. "This looks great, sweetheart, but what you drew are actually galaxies, not star systems." He took another piece of paper and drew a yellow sun, with several orbiting rings around it. "See, that's a solar system. The rings are invisible, but they're the paths that the planets take."

Catherine frowned. "Oh…Do you think Jack will like it anyway?"

"I think he'll love it." He glanced at the picture one more time as he moved to hand it back to her, and suddenly a thought dawned on him. Abydos and Earth were in the same galaxy – but what if Atlantis wasn't? "You keep coloring for a little while," he told his daughter. "I've got some work to do."

* * *

By the time Jack arrived the next day, Daniel had figured it out. A random character that they'd seen in some of the writings was actually the 8th symbol in the address for Atlantis – the Ancients' city had been found in the Pegasus Galaxy. Dr. Weir had clearance to put together a team for a possibly-one-way mission to discover the city's secrets; Atlantis wouldn't be lost for long.

A few days later, Catherine watched from the conference room in the SGC as the Atlantis Expedition team assembled down below in the Gate room. Two hundred scientists from all over the world and soldiers from all branches of the military were heading out on the adventure. If only it was possible for someone to send her pictures of what they found…

The Stargate began spinning as the address was dialed in. Catie looked up as her father joined her. "Are you sure we can't go?" she asked him.

"Positive. There's no way the boss would approve it."

"But Jack let me go to Antarctica."

"I was referring to the other boss – your mother."

"Oh," she replied with a sigh. A MALP was sent through to check the conditions on the other side, but after only a couple minutes, the Expedition team began heading out.

"I'm going to go someday," Catherine asserted, "I'll see what Atlantis looks like for myself, and then I'll know if your stories were right."

Daniel smiled. "Fair enough. Just make sure you send me a postcard."

She giggled. "You can come, too. And Mama and JJ."

"Thank you. We've got another family trip to worry about right now, though. Come on, we both have to finish packing." They headed for the stairs in order to go home.

"I can't wait to tell Grandfather about our trip," Catherine told her father.

"Yeah, I bet he'll hardly believe it."

* * *

**TBC...**

**One more chapter to go.**


	12. Epilogue: Two Years Later

MY SUMMER VACATION

Catherine Jackson

Grade 5, Oak Creek Elementary

This year, I had the best summer vacation ever. In June and July, we went back to my mother's home to see my family. My cousin, Meti, now has a little sister, Yina. They're both very cute. Almost every day, after breakfast, my brother and I would play with them. I was very happy to see all of my friends again. Now that we are older, we are allowed to do more things by ourselves without our parents. We would play in the dunes until the sun got too hot. I got to tell my grandfather all about everything that I'm learning in school and about playing on the soccer team. Some nights, I would watch the sunset with my brother and my father from the dunes. There are no computers or cell phones or televisions there. I like the quiet. My family spends more time together and we get to talk and play games. I like Colorado Springs, but I like Abydos, too.

At the end of July, we took another trip, to another galaxy.

* * *

"Whoa," Daniel interrupted his daughter as she read her homework assignment aloud for him and Sha're. "Honey, remember that you can't turn in classified material for homework assignments? You were doing fine until we left the Milky Way."

Catherine sighed. "I know." She held up a second piece of paper. "This one just talks about Abydos. I'm allowed to turn that in as long as I pretend it's in Egypt, right?"

"Yes. Please do me a favor and shred the extended version? Just to make sure the wrong one doesn't accidentally end up in your teacher's hands."

"Okay, but can I at least finish reading it?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"At the end of July, we took another trip, to another galaxy. It takes three weeks to get to the Pegasus Galaxy, riding on a spaceship called the Prometheus. I thought that the ship would be really cool, but it's boring after the first week. There's nothing to see outside except hyperspace all the time. The very, very best part of the whole entire trip was when we finally dropped out of hyperspace and landed in Atlantis. It was so amazing. I got to see my friends again, like Dr. Weir and Dr. McKay. My dad was doing research for his job here on Earth. I got to play and do whatever I wanted all the time. The city was huge, and I could only explore a little bit of it before we had to come back home so that my brother and I could start school. I hope we can go back next year and every year. Maybe next summer they'll have another ZPM, so we won't have to spend so much time traveling. The end." She took a little bow.

Sha're smiled at her daughter. "Very nice."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "Too bad no one else is ever going to see it."

"My teacher probably won't believe me," Catherine tried to tell him. "She'll just think I'm making up stories. The only spaceship she could know about only goes to Earth orbit."

"Even if that's true, I don't want to have to deal with the parent-teacher conference that this would generate. Shred it." Catherine sighed, but obediently headed for his office.

"You have created a monster," Sha're told her husband with a smile.

He laughed. "Don't I know it."

"Do you remember the day that she was born?"

Daniel nodded. "Like it was yesterday…I was so scared we were going to lose her before we even had her – but then she finally started breathing. Kept us on our toes ever since."

Sha're smiled. "She has always been determined to do a great deal in life."

"Mmm, she gets that from her mother…Thank you."

"For what, my Dan'iel?"

"For our family…For putting up with me, and following me around the galaxy."

She smiled. "It was our adventure."

Catherine returned at that point, with Jonathan in tow. "We're hungry," she told her mother.

"Well, then I guess we should fix dinner. Do you two have any requests?"

Daniel just watched as the three of them headed for the kitchen. The three people that made up his world. His life with Sha're really was the best gift he ever could have gotten.

* * *

FIN

**Thanks to everyone who's sent feedback and suggestions along the way. I hope you've enjoyed.**


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